


Lost Together

by Stegosaurus104



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender, klance - Fandom
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, M/M, Really sad beginning i guess, aftermath AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-23 18:39:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10724961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stegosaurus104/pseuds/Stegosaurus104
Summary: Keith and Lance are by themselves after a disaster in a universe where everything went wrong. Keith and Lance have to stick together to survive and to stay happy.It's quite depressing at the beginning. Trust me, it will get better! You just have to hold out.Make sure you check the warnings I put. This fic does have some graphic depictions of death and such, discretion is advised.





	1. The Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> I will most likely finish this by June if it is the length I'm planning. If it ends up being longer it might take longer.

_Loud beeping filled each Lion. Lights were flashing, the oxygen wasn't holding up. The Castle-Ship was falling towards a giant planet, along with each lion. The black lion was torn to shreds and Shiro's life signal was gone. Pidge and Hunk had crashed together, falling fast towards the unfamiliar planet. Keith was struggling to stay conscious and regain control of his Lion and pull it up. He couldn't contact anyone, nothing was working and there was no power. What was he supposed to do, he had to accept what happened and try to survive. He hoped the others would make it too. Lance could see faint red flashing in the room. His lion was moving fast. Lance was hearing a very high-pitched ringing. His vision was going fuzzy and soon to black. The lack of oxygen was causing his to pass out. He soon was going to hit the planet._

_The Castle was the first to hit the Planet, crushing itself into the planet, the main pilots' control center going first. The rest of the structure would have crushed anyone inside. Hunk and Pidge both landed on a jagged mountain and they hit the planet. Pidge had rocks breaking the windshield on the Lion. Rocks and stones struck them body, splitting their head open. Blood spilled from their head, falling to the floor, the Lion slid down to the bottom of the mountain and settled. Rocks piled on top of it from the induced rock slide. Hunk hit the same mountain, his body was tossed here and there. The seat belt was broken and he was thrown from one end of the cabin to the other. Once he reached the bottom of the mountain next to Pidge's Lion, Hunk was unconscious. Hunk was on his back and from the motion, on the way he threw up in his mouth. He choked on his vomit and died silently._

_Lance's Lion was slowed down in the air by lightly hitting pillars of rock. The landing could have been harder, Lance was lucky this planet had breathable air to refill the inside of the Lion through cracks. Lance was still unconscious and would be for a while._

_Keith braced for impact, the landing was lucky, he hit a hill and slid to the bottom. Keith held onto the seat and steady himself as they crashed and rolled. The trip was very disorienting. Keith waited until he felt the dizziness cease. The Lion was still, he landed on some strange planet with no power in his Lion that was extremely damaged. Keith felt very tired..._

_He just needed to rest.. for a little while._


	2. Where is everyone?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Realizing what has happened. Some memory lost.

Keith woke up. Still dreary from the crash. Wait!.. How did this happen? Why did he crash? Why did any of them crash? Where are the rest! Oh god.. are they ok? Keith was worried, he had to get out of the Lion, he pushed open the mouth and exited. The land was barren where he was at. There were some small bushes and clumps of vegetation around but nothing significant. In the distance, there were some bigger bushes and what looked like some small trees. A light amount of fog surrounded him and his lion. He tried to see anyone else anywhere. He headed out, going up the mountain his Lion rolled down.

As Keith got to the top of the hill, the fog wasn't in his way and he could see the Green Lion and the Yellow Lion at the bottom of a mountain. They were beaten up really bad, but Keith couldn't tell much. He walked back down the hill and started booking it to the two Lions. He could only focus on finding his friends.

Keith reached the Green Lion, he looked inside, Pidge was strapped to their seat and blood was pooled around them. Keith looked away, he couldn't look at Pidge. Keith gagged in his mouth, he felt sick. Pidge, was gone, that sarcastic little kid was gone.

_One day you'll help me find my brother right?_

Pidge had asked him to help them. They hadn't found him yet. Pidge was never reunited with their brother. Tears welled up in Keith's eyes. Keith wiped them away in anger.

"I have to focus on finding the others." Keith said aloud to himself. He moved over to the Yellow Lion and looked in. Hunk was laying on the floor. _Maybe he is just unconscious, he could be fine._ Keith thought. He got into the Lion and knelt down, tapping Hunk's shoulders, trying to get his attention. He called his name, each time more desperate. Keith checked for Hunk's pulse. There was nothing. Nothing at all, no breathing, blue skin.

_Keith when we go back to earth, I'm going to show you some amazing foods._

Keith leaned his head onto Hunk, crying into his armor.

"Why! Why are they gone! Why couldn't it have been me! They deserve to live, they deserve to have a happy future! Hunk! Please.. come back to me, come back to us." Keith didn't want to search for the others, but unwilling got up and headed out. He saw the outline of the castle in the distance. Hope. The castle must have saved Coran and Allura. His fast walking turned into running as he got desperate. The castle came into clear view. The top was...

They were crushed inside. Keith ran around the outside of it trying to find a way in. Every entranced was crushed shut and sealed. If they were alive they were going to be stuck for too long. Keith had to accept that the damage was not survivable.

He had one person to find. Lance. His Lion was somewhere. Keith climbed the castle and looked onto the horizon. He saw a bunch of pillars and the Lion sticking out from behind one of them. Keith was on the run. He needed one of them to be alive, he wouldn't make it without Lance being there for him. The Blue Lion was much further away than the others had been from each other. But this did not stop Keith from running full speed the whole way. Lance could be alive, he just needed to reach him.

Keith clambered into the Blue Lion and confronted Lance. He was strapped to his chair. Keith checked for a pulse first. There was a pulse! Lance was alive, with minor injuries. Keith unstrapped him and lowered his body onto the ground. He leaned up against a wall with Lance's head in his lap. Keith stroked Lance's hair, letting all the tears he had out and crying over Lance. He was going to wait there until Lance awoke.


	3. What do you mean? Where are they?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Um, Lance wakes up.

Lance awakens to hear Keith crying. he opens his eyes, trying to grasp at where he was. He looked up to see Keith. Keith Looked exhausted. Lance moved, it sent pain through his body, he stopped with a yelp. Why did he ache so much? A headache started throbbing in his head, Lance didn't want to get up.

Keith adjusted to the shift, looking at Lance, "Lance? Lance! Are you ok? What hurts?" Keith wiped the tears from his eyes, changing his focus to Lance.

"Everything hurts, but I think I'm ok, I'm just tired. What happened, I can't remember anything before I woke up except blacking out." Lance winced at the constant pain.

"Everyone crashed onto this strange planet, the air is breathable but I don't know about food and water. I can't remember how we ended up crashing either." Keith looked away from Lance, dropping his head in a slump.

"The others are here? We have to go to them, tell them I'm ok!" Lance started to sit up, groaning at the pain in his abdomen. He persisted in moving until Keith's hand stopped him from continuing. Keith pushed Lance back down gently until Lance's head was laying on his lap again.

"No," Keith looked directly into Lance's eyes. "We can't tell them, and we can't go see them." Keith had tears in his eyes again. The thought of them laying lifeless in their Lions was too much for him. How was he supposed to tell any of this to Lance, it would break him as it did himself.

"What do you mean? Where are they?" Lance asked, worried about the answer. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.

"They are all dead. I saw them, they all are dead." Lance was shaking, his eyes widened as the imagine of his friends came to mind. He pushed himself away from Keith, curling his knees to his chest. Letting his tears fall.

 _Keith must be lying to me! They aren't dead, he is just saying that he doesn't know for sure...but why would Keith lie to me? What benefit does that give him? They must be dead. Why am I one to live? Why only us, I don't deserve to live, not without the rest of them. There is no purpose now._ Lance was almost wailing, bawling outcries of dread and pain. He let out a deep breath ad Keith gently touched his shoulder.

"We have to keep going, when we get back home we can honor them for their work. You have to keep your hopes up for returning home." Keith was slow with his words, he didn't get any closer, worrying it would anger Lance. He wanted Lance to make the decision to continue on his own. "I need to find food and water, something to eat. Or what I can. I'm leaving, but I will return. Stay here until I return, I'll leave you be." Keith stood, brushing off his pants. He started heading out and grabbed a container to store food and a sealable cup for any water or liquid found.

"Are they really dead?" Lance blurted out as Keith was almost gone. Keith stopped.

"I'm sorry, we can get through this." Keith left, leaving Lance to his own thoughts.

Lance started to move around, trying to stretch his muscles out, if he was going to survive this he needed to be able to stand at least. He ached everywhere. "What if something happens to Keith? I need to make sure he makes it back. Let's see if we can ever get Blue to work again. It might never work again.. What if I'm the one that destroyed the Lion?" He said aloud. He didn't want to think about that. As he got up he moved about trying to see what he could fix on his Lion. Maybe he could get it running again. He really needed Pidge. They would be able to fix this in no time. "I don't know what to do, I wish Pidge was here." Lance pounded the control system, nothing was responding. Lance was yelling and screaming, he needed...

"Keith! Come back. Please Keith.." Lance pleaded to no one. Lance was wasting his energy, calling out into empty space. He was tiring himself out, he wanted to lay down for a while anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to make chapters longer, so far its no working, ahhh


	4. A Bunny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith goes looking for food and water and stuff, it not too action packed.

Keith exited the Lion, leaving Lance to himself. He had to find some sort of food they could eat, otherwise, there was no point of trying to survive. Keith was walking around outside, he was plucking the tufts of grass that were sticking out of the ground. He collects about two handfuls before moving onto the tiny bushes of sorts. These little bits of plant were at least more than nothing. Keith really needed to find more than this though. He kept walking, Keith remembered the small trees and bigger bushes he saw in the distance earlier. He started on his way in that direction.

The walk was very long, but this was their only option for food. He walked and walked and walked.

As Keith arrived at the edge of this field, he was relieved. The field extended past the distance he could see. Lance and he could set up a camp here. Keith started looking around and pulling up plants, he was attempting to just get any substance. He picked leaves from the trees and bushes. Keith spotted this very small berry plant, he started pulling as many as he could, placing them all in the container he had. If this was the only food, they would need a lot.

There was a rustling in the bushes.

This caught Keith's attention, he couldn't see what it was, but he wanted to find out. _So life does exist here. That means there must be water somewhere and other food. Maybe I can kill whatever that was for food._ Keith thought, he set down the container and lowered himself to the ground, making no sound. Listening to the pats and taps of whatever creature was there. Keith pulled out a knife, to strike. He slowly crawled towards the sounds of the animal. The tall grass cleared and a bunny sat on some patted down grass.

Keith struck, he didn't hesitate, they needed this food. He sunk his knife in the back of the animal. There was blood, but no matter. Keith picked it up and laid it in the container. Keith covered it with leaves, to make sure the blood wouldn't ruin the berries he collected. _Wait! Why is there a bunny here? The chances are so low for that to occur. At least if there is a bunny on this planet, there has to be water._ Keith thought to himself. He picked up the container and stood there, in silence. He was listening to his surroundings, listening to the sound of water. There was a faint splash of water, he surely wouldn't have heard it while walking. He walked towards the sound, stopping every once and a while to listen for it again. He walked and walked. It was getting closer and louder, but not by much. Keith was running out of patience. He ran forward to catch the sound and find where it came from.

Keith slowed to a stop to catch his breath and listen once more. Keith listened carefully, slowing his breaths so they were quiet. The noise was coming from...

From behind him?!!

Keith turned around, walking slowly, scanning the ground for a small brook or stream. He was now on top of the sound, there was a small crook of water going silently by. You could put your hand into a fist, and if you placed it in that crook it would block the whole thing.

Keith was very excited. He needed to collect it, he grabbed the sealable cup and placed it low enough for water to start filling it slowly. After it was done filling he closed it, and got up. Keith wanted to look around the area more and see what else was here, but it was getting darker outside and he needed to be back at the Lion before that happened. He started on his way back, grabbing dry sticks and wood from around him. The wood was purple like the soil, it was very strange how purple everything was.

Keith was going to need to start a fire so he could cook the bunny. Once Keith left the forest he realized how dark it really was out. Keith was starting to worry about how much light in the day he had left. He started jogging back to the Lion, the container was jostling against the back of his leg. It was annoying but it would have to be dealt with later. Right now was not the time to be fixing things. All he could focus on was Lance. _Is he ok? I hope I did the right thing leaving him alone? What if he doesn't want to live? Oh no, what did I do?_ Keith started to run faster, pushing himself to get there as fast as he could. Keith finally reached the Lion, he knocked on the metal and entered. "Keith!" Lance sounded startled. _Was he not expecting me?_ Keith headed to where Lance was when he left, the paladin had his back faced at Keith, he was curled into a ball facing the wall. Keith stepped closer, setting down the food, he tried to get closer and see what Lance was hiding.

"Go..somewhere else, I need to be alone for a little longer." Lance said, his tone was angry but more upset. Keith saw a line of blood fall down Lance's arm.

"Lance!" Keith was furious. I let him be for a couple hours and he does this! He is so immature. "Show me."


	5. What a joke!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith tries to coax Lance to calm down.

Keith grabbed at Lance, pulling lance's arm from his own grasp. Lance resisted, trying to pull away from Keith's grip. This did not work. Keith took off his armor and then his shirt, he ripped strips from the bottom of it. He took some of the water, he worked so hard to get, and poured it over the cut, Lance winced, trying to hold back a cry. Keith started wrapping it somewhat tightly. He knew it would soak through but it would have to do until they could do better. Keith gripped Lance's wrist tightly and pulled him close. "If you ever do something stupid like this again, I will tie your arms behind you back. You are all I have left. Please, do not die,  please, do not leave me." Keith let go of Lance's hand, and walked away, trying to find somewhere to sleep for the night.

Lance wanted to talk but didn't feel that it was his place to speak up. He did a really dumb thing, but it was the only thing that would erase his guilt. At least he thought it would, now he felt even more guilty than before. He just needed to say something, he couldn't wait. "I want to see them!" Lance spilled out.

Keith turned around, gritting his teeth. "You want to see who?" Keith was about to punch him.

"I want to see the other paladins. We should bury them properly, in honor of them. It's the right thing to do." Lance said, without looking at Keith.

Keith sighed.

"THE RIGHT THING TO DO LANCE? HOW CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE RIGHT THING TO DO? DID YOU FORGET ABOUT WHAT YOU JUST DID TO YOURSELF? AND NOW YOU THINK YOU CAN SAY WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG, WHAT A JOKE!" Keith stared at him through his rant, getting his point across rather quickly.

"I just.." Lance had tears in his eyes, he weakly laid down on the ground and turned to face the wall. "I thought.. you would.. and I could... I'm sorry"

"We leave tomorrow, don't do anything stupid tonight, and prepare yourself for what you will see. It is very gruesome." Keith turned away from Lance, ready to head to some other part of the Lion. He realized it could get really cold, and sleeping alone might not create enough heat. He looked back at Lance. He practically whispered "I can't believe this.. grr"

"What was that?" asked Lance.

"Nothing!" Keith snapped. He walked over to Lance and laid by him, Keith faced away from Lance, their backs touching slightly. "This is only for warmth, nothing else."

* * *

Keith hadn't been able to sleep, He could hear Lance breathing deeply. Keith tried multiple times to see if he was awake, but never got a reply. He was awake by himself.

"Umph" Keith mumbled as Lance's weight shifted suddenly. His arm draped over Keith's waist and Lance pulled himself closer. "Lance?" Keith was barely whispering. "Lance!" he hissed. "Lance I swear to god, if this is some sort of joke, you are going to pay!" Keith struggled, trying to pull himself away gently and careful to not disturb Lance.

"I don't want you to leave Pidge. Hunk, I'm going to miss you too. Shiro, why are you leaving me too. Please stay with me. Keith? Keith! Don't go! Everyone else has left me, don't leave me to. I-I'm all alone.." Lance said in his sleep, he had a death grip on Keith.

Keith was so sorry. Lance felt abandoned and all he did was yell and him. Keith rolled over and wrapped his arms around Lance. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He whispered into Lance's ear.

Keith slowly felt more and more tired, falling asleep close to Lance.

* * *

Lance came to, he was surprisingly warm. He opened his eyes and saw Keith asleep in his arms. Lance, jerked away. Keith was startled awake and looked down at Lance, his arms still around the blue paladin. He immediately got up, removing his arms from the boy's waist. "That. That did not happen. Forget about it. I'm going to go make us breakfast. Afternoon, we are gathering what we can from the lion and moving to the stream and area I found to live. I don't want to hear anything from you." Keith walked away, grabbing his container of food and going outside, piling dry wood together.

"I just wanted to tell you I enjoyed it.. but fine, be like that." Lance muttered to himself under his breath so Keith couldn't hear it. _I wonder what Keith has for breakfast, hopefully not just bark from a tree. That stuff is nasty, what if there are cool alien creatures here that we could eat!_ Lance was suddenly very excited for breakfast and wanted to help get it done as fast as possible. He headed out the way Keith did to help him.

Keith didn't even turn around. "No Lance, you are staying inside, start gathering supplies for the move." Keith continued to start a fire. Lance willingly complied and retreated to the Lion. Lance looked around for helpful supplies. There was a tiny emergency kit in a container, but nothing much since the Lion wasn't meant to support life for a long time. There were strange blue drinks in a compartment. Lance decided to pack those. In a wall that flipped out were some extra gear of sorts. lance packed whatever rope and knives might be useful. He also grabbed some fire starting stuff and other manageable tools. If they needed the heavy duty weapons they could come back. The only other thing was a small blanket, wonder who thought to put a blanket on here. It is definitely useful now. Lance had all this stuff packed in two bags, one for each of them.

Lance came back out, "Keith I'm done packing what is available from the Lion. What are we having for breakfast." Lance walked behind Keith to see what he was cooking with the fire. A rabbit? Or hare? "Is that a bunny?" Lance asked.

"Yeah actually, I was surprised to find one here, on some strange planet. If we find more, we should breed them." Keith suggested it would allow them to have more meat. "We are heading out in a few hours, for now just enjoy the food and water I collected. Let's go through the stuff you hauled from the Lion." Keith grabbed one of the bags and started shifting through it. Lance grabbed some food and started eating while he could. He was very hungry from the night before. Lance couldn't help but think about the bandage that was on his wrist. It just reminded of the pain he was causing Keith. He wanted to cover it up, just like he wanted to cover up his shame.


	6. Make your own room.

"We are heading over to the field first, we will set up camp and build a shelter. After that, we will collect food to store and water. If we do that in enough time, then we will head over to see.. them. otherwise, we go tomorrow. Got it?" Keith sternly asked Lance.

"Uh yeah, I got it, lets head out now." Lance started getting everything ready to start walking. The two of them started walking, Lance staggered behind Keith, letting him lead. Keith wasn't planning on talking to Lance until they got there. It was a long walk, and he wanted to focus on getting there and didn't need the extra noise. Lance was disappointed Keith wasn't talking, he felt bad so he didn't speak up. Lance was upset Keith looked content not talking. Lance tried focusing on something else. He looked up ahead and spotted the small field of trees and bushes, it was still quite a ways. _Walking all this way must have been tough for Keith before, I don't want to do this again._

"I'm sorry," Lance suddenly said. "by the way. I thought I should apologize, for making you worry. It was stupid." Lance was timid with his tone of voice, he didn't want to tick Keith off more.

"No," Keith replied. "I'm sorry I got so mad at you, I'm sorry I yelled at you. That couldn't have made it better. I was so stupid to break that news to you and then leave you alone. I should've waited until after I got back. I was the one who made the mistakes, it's my fault." He sulked more with his posture.

"I still shouldn't have done that, even if you weren't there." Lance tried to catch up, so he could walk alongside Keith. "How much longer, it doesn't look too far now. Where are we going to set up?" Lance was generally curious and just wanted to change the topic.

"We will build a base, against a sturdy tree. After that, as I said before, we will collect supplies. Depending on how we feel and time of day we might plan another activity." Keith avoided saying visiting Pidge and Hunk. It was too, emotional. Keith kept leading Lance to the plain. Eventually, they reached the edge and started searching around. Keith wanted to find a sturdy tree, he told Lance to as well. They separated a little but stayed in each other's view. Getting lost was possibly one of the worst options at the moment. Especially because Lance didn't know this area of land, and Keith only visited once before.

"How about this tree?!" Lance hollered. Keith turned his head into his direction, looking at the wide tree next to Lance. He liked the size and shape, the area around it seemed clear so he headed over. The ground wasn't too lumpy, and the tree was indeed wide.

"Uh, yeah, this seems really good. Probably the best tree we will find." Keith dumped his bag of gear, Lance did so as well after him. Keith grabbed containers for water. "I have been to the stream of water before so I will collect water. I want you to start building a small storage area for gear and supplies. It needs to be secure from animals if they visit at night. I'll be back soon. I don't want to leave you alone, but this is our best option to be productive."

"Yeah, sounds like a plan boss!" Lance smiled, giving Keith a big thumbs up. He got onto his knees and started digging through the bags of stuff.

"Please do not call me boss again, that sounds so lame." Keith headed off, guessing in a direction he thought it was before. He ran a while away, far from Lance's noise so he could listen for the water. Once he was far enough away, he listened for the slight trickling sound. As if he was training for it, he located it immediately. Now all he had to do was find it and gather the water. He started off in one direction. Hopefully, he could keep track of where the base was from his position.

Lance started on the gear shelter. He started piling sticks and grass from around the area together in that spot. He used the string from the extra supplies to tie stuff together. It was very tedious and he didn't want to use all their gear. Lance resorted to weaving long grass together and looping it together. So far that was holding up very well. Keith was going to be so proud. Lance was storing the gear in the shelter as he worked on it, making sure there was enough room for more things and supplies. Lance could hear footsteps, he pulled a weapon, looking around and pressing up against a tree.

"Lance, where are you?" It was just Keith. Lance walked from behind the tree, knife in hand, he was getting ready to put it back. "Why do you have a knife?"

"I, I heard footsteps and wasn't sure if it was you so I hid." Lance blushed, he knew worrying about some alien was a little silly, but he was scared.

"That's fine. Did you work on the shelter? I gathered enough water for a while." Keith sat down next to Lance, taking the water out of his pack.

"Yeah, you can put the water in here." Lance gestured to the grass and stick structure against the wall. Keith placed the stuff there and started walking around gathering more sticks and grass, planning on copying Lance's technique. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean, I'm building a place for me to sleep tonight." Keith found Lance's question a waste, wasn't it obvious. He dumped his collection of vegetation and started weaving it together.

"I can help you out, this will be a fun activity!" Lance started to scooch over. Keith stopped him.

"No. Make your own room." Lance seemed offended by this. He backed off though, getting up to do the same Keith was, collecting twigs and building a small shelter for him. Lance was not upset they couldn't just share a space. He wanted to sleep together like they did before, plus it would be much warmer.

Lance groaned in distress and walked around, picking up supplies for his own room. He had to roam further out because Keith took all the nearest supplies. Find bigger sticks was harder than Lance thought, he found tons of small branches and the grass was in endless supplies. All he really needed was one really big stick. _Hehe, big stick._ Lance wandered around for a while. Keeping an eye on Keith's shelter to see how he was making it. Lance sat on by the tree with all of his supplies and started constructing. Lance focused on making a good ceiling in case there was rain on this planet. Once he had enough weaved grass and sticks piled onto his base sticks, he focused on walls. Lance didn't know how much wind would come through during the night. He tied everything together with grass to make sure it wouldn't tip or blow over during the night. His home took him all day to build. Making the shelter useful and practical was hard. Keith had finished his and was off searching for berries and finding animals. Lance was about done as the light outside was getting dim. I guess we are going to see them tomorrow. Lance was testing out his shelter when he heard Keith return from his hunt.

"Hey Keith, I assume we are going to see them tomorrow and getting sleep tonight?" Lance asked as he sat up outside his home. Keith agreed as he put things away in the storage between their beds.

"Stay warm tonight, don't eat too much, we will have a decent breakfast. We will also need to take as many supplies from the other Lions, so pack light. The trip back will be tough." Keith ate a few berries and crawled into his perfectly sized shelter. Lance did the same, trying to adjust to the uncomfortable ground. Tomorrow was going to be a long day of walking.

"Goodnight, Keith." Lance whispered.

No reply. _Salty much, I need him to be over this attitude by tomorrow_.


	7. Pidge. Hunk.

"aac PPP!" Lance rolled over. _I just want to sleep_. "Waac uppp!" Lance groaned, what was making so much noise? "Wake up!" Lance jolted awake, Keith was yelling at him. _hmm_ ehh _, what does he want?_ "Lance! Wake up, we need to head out if we are going to get to the Lion and back in time." Lance crawled out of his shelter, looking at Keith. He was already ready and waiting for Lance to also get ready. "Eat something quick and let's go." Keith had the empty bags ready to go. HE had water and food packed as well.

"Why were you up so early? There is barely any light out." Lance rubbed his eyes and yawned. He sluggishly got put together and ate a quick breakfast. "Seems like you have everything ready, so let's go."

"I was up early because, unlike you, I know how far it is and how long it will take. I need you to understand something." Keith turned towards Lance, handing him a bag. "While we are one our way, i need you to gear yourself up for what you will see. It is really graphic and will scare you. I'm sure of that. So promise me you will handle yourself while we are there, we can't spend too much time there." Keith started walking away, Lance following closely behind him, letting him lead. "Promise?"

"Oh! uh yeah, I'll try to do my best, but..." Lance looked at the ground as they walked. "What should I be expecting?" Keith didn't answer right away, it was making Lance nervous.

"Pidge." Keith paused. "They were hit in the head with rocks, the windshield on their Lion is shattered. It was bloody, I couldn't look at it long. Don't visualize it too much. Hunk on the other hand." Keith gulped and cleared his throat. "He choked to death on his vomit, my take was that he was motion sick from the crash and passed out." Keith let Lance think by himself.

"Did you see it happen?" Lance asked, his voice was wavering, but he needed to ask questions.

"No, I found them while looking for everyone." Keith knew many questions were coming and was aiming to answer them in the best way. To rebuild and restart here and get home, they both needed to support each other. This meant Lance was going to have to get past this. Moving on was the first step in advancing to the goal.

"What about Shiro?"

Keith was shocked, he hadn't thought about it. He never found any parts of Shiro's Lion. _I wonder where it ended up._ "From my memory, while in space crashing into this planet I saw his Lion, it was torn to shreds. The Lion was torn apart and shredded by something huge. There was no life signal from his Lion before we all started crashing. I never found his Lion on this planet, it might still be in space. I'm sorry." Keith never realized he never found the Black Lion. Shiro was dead, but what about the Lion? Could it live through that?

"And Allura and Coran?" Lance stumbled over his words.

"The castle was smashed into the ground, the main control room hit the ground first, crushing whoever was inside. I crawled up the Castle, there was no way in or out. If they somehow survived I couldn't reach them. Again, I'm sorry we can't go see them." Keith was holding his tears back. This was time for Lance to let his emotions out, Keith had to be strong for the both of them. He could hear Lance sniffling from behind him. He stole a glance and saw him rubbing tears from his eyes. Keith mentally sighed, such a crybaby sometimes.

Keith reached back and grabbed Lance's hand, squeezing it gently. "It will be alright, just take your time with emotions." Keith left them both in silence, continuing his lead and pulling Lance along in the right direction. "Just stay quiet for a bit and think."

They didn't talk the rest of the walk there, still holding hands. Keith only ever asking Lance if he was alright. Keith noticed Lance was standing up straighter as they walked and was regaining his happiness.

* * *

They arrived at Hunk's Yellow Lion first, Keith dropped Lance's hand.  He was climbing into the Lion, letting Lance follow. It smelled and Keith didn't want to be there long. Looking at Hunk laying there was upsetting his stomach. Lance had no problem with the smell or sight. He kneeled down next to Hunk's lifeless body. Lance's rested a hand on Hunk's chest. "I'm sorry this happened to you, I want to bury you respectfully." Lance looked to Keith, who nodded back.

They gently moved his body outside the Lion, Keith started digging a hole, while Lance made his way to the Green Lion which wasn't too far. "Lance! Just remember to have self-control, call me if you need me." Keith returned to digging and Lance walked to the Lion, crawling in.

Pidge was limply strapped to the seat. Dried blood covered them and the floor. Lance gagged and had to hold back. Their face was very distorted, Lance felt tears streaming down his face. He fell to his knees and slouched. He placed his head in his hands and wailed. Two of his paladins were gone and he couldn't fix it. Keith was behind him in a split second, making sure he was alright. Hunk's grave was ready, he had started on Pidge's. He needed to work fast so they could get back before dark.

Lance rubbed his face and helped Keith move Pidge as well. After Keith and Lance finished Pidge's grave together they gently lowered both of them in and started placing dirt over them to cover them up. Lance was ready to give a speech for both of them.

"Hunk. You were such an amazing partner at school. We went on so many adventures together. Finding the blue Lion was the best thing that happened to us. I would do it over every time. You are-" Lance sniffled. "- were one of my best friends. You made a great companion for fooling around, we could find the craziest stuff. I won't have fun without thinking of you. When I reach home, you will be praised for your hard work." Lance stepped sideways so he was in front of Pidge's grave.

"Pidge. You were so quirky, and smart. You have one of the best personalities ever. You were so creative and had the best mind, I wish I had you here now, you were the youngest one of us and didn't deserve to die at this age. You never got to find your brother and meet him. I promise that one day I will find him and bring him here to visit your resting place. I swear it will happen. You will meet your brother one day." Tears streamed down Lance's face, he gave Keith a hug, pressing his face into Keith's shoulder.

"We have to grab what we can and leave. Alright? It's getting late. I know this is hard, but think about what is best." Keith wrapped his arms around Lance, hugging him tightly. Keith released him and headed into the Green Lion to forage for supplies. He packed his bag practically full and headed back out. Lance was on his knees next to the graves. Keith wanted to join him and let his emotions out, but this wasn't the time. Keith grabbed some water and walked up to Lance, handing it to him. He then grabbed Lance's bag and dug through the Yellow Lion.

When Keith was done with that he gave Lance the lighter bag. Keith hoisted Lance up by the arms, grasping his shoulders. "We have to head back, I packed everything, let's go." Keith once again took Lance's hand again and lead him away from the Lions and towards their base. Lance didn't say anything to Keith on their way back but kept his grip on Keith's hand.

* * *

Keith had lead Lance all the way back to the base. He had Lance sit down and grabbed his arm. The cloth had dried blood and he needed it redressed. Lance looked away from his arm and from Keith.

Keith took off the cloth and washed away the dried blood, it wasn't bleeding anymore, but to be safe Keith was going to put something over it anyway just for protection. "Tomorrow we can go hunting and take your mind off of stuff. That is if you want." Keith had finished up with his arm and let go. Lance looked down at his lap and didn't say anything back. Keith ruffled his hair. "Do you want to talk? If you need something I need you to tell me."

"I don't know if I want to do anything tomorrow, but right now I want to cuddle with you." Lance still wasn't looking at Keith.

Keith laughed. "I get it, it's because I held your hand. Funny." Keith was flustered and he was trying to pass it off as if Lance was joking.

"I liked the hand holding, I wouldn't mind doing it again. I really want to cuddle with you. Please?" Lance begged.

"I- I'm not- I don't- why do you think I would?" Keith stammered.

"Because you were already taking care of me and holding my hand, and hugged me. I assumed you liked me the same way I like you." Lance's face was probably bright red, it felt like it was on fire. He was looking down hoping Keith wouldn't notice how red his face was.

"You like me?" Keith's face was bright red. He hadn't realized he fell for Lance, during all this trauma he wasn't thinking about himself. He was just thinking about making Lance feel better. His crush on him was showing more than he thought.

"Yeah, I was nervous about telling you. I wasn't sure how you would look at me after that." Lance finally looked up at Keith, seeing how red his face was too.

"Yeah, we can cuddle. Do you have room for two at your place?" Keith jokingly said.

"I think we could fit." Lance replied.

They both crawled, Lance's back against Keith's chest. They could feel each other's heartbeats. Keith wrapped a protective arm over Lance.

Tonight was going to be their most peaceful night for a while.


	8. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chill chapter, you can relax until the end. The last paragraph is where you should really panic and also maybe another chapter... and maybe about Keith's emotional status. It will be ok though. :P oops.

Lance awoke from sleep, he didn't dream at all and felt well rested. Keith still had deep slow breaths. He was sleeping. Lance didn't move, he was enjoying the cuddling.

_Keith really likes me. I thought he would disown me. I though the would be mad at me. What are we supposed to do now? What is his plan to leave this planet? We need to get one of the Lions to work if we want to get home, but without the castle how will we even find home? Is it just a lost cause trying to fight, trying to live._

"Why are you waiting for me to get up?" Keith suddenly asked.

"Huh, what? I- I wasn't." Lance scooted away from Keith. "You're just making stuff up!"

Keith wrapped his arms around Lance, pulling him in closer. "I don't think so."

Lance got up anyway, and so did Keith. Lance grabbed water and berries for the both of them. "So, what is the plan? Are we going to go hunting like you said yesterday?" Lance didn't want to make Keith worry so he kept it to himself.

Keith didn't really have a plan, he was just winging it. He was trying to seem confident to Lance. "Well, I was thinking we would collect food and other basics supplies for today. Maybe make a bigger goal to work towards. I'll show you the brook I found for water."

"When do you want to leave?" Lance was finished eating and awaited Keith to finish his meal.

Keith cleaned up his own setting. "We can leave now, I would really like to collect as much as we can. Grab a container for stuff and we can head out." Lance grabbed his container and stood up, letting Keith lead once again. They walked into the woods, Lance wasn't really searching the woods, he was deep in thought about Keith. He seemed like he knew where he was going.

_Keith is just so nice, and amazing. I'm glad he survived as well. If it was just me I don't think I would have kept going. He really is too good for me. His mullet is a little foolish though, he can keep it, but he looks like a dork. Hehe. He is just t-_

Lance was hit in the chest, he snapped into reality. _Huh?_ Keith's hand was on his chest telling him to stop moving. "Keith? What the -!"

"Shhhh!" Keith commanded. Lance shut his mouth and didn't move an inch. Keith was listening for the stream of water, again he found it rather quickly. "Come on." Keith quickly walked towards it, kneeling down next to it as Lance caught up.

"That is rather small, I'm surprised you could hear it at all. Nice job." Lance pulled out his thing for collecting water and started filling it up. Keith waited for him to finish.

"Do you remember the way here?" Keith asked.

Lance didn't answer right away. He knew he wasn't paying any attention the whole way there. "Uhh, no?" Lance said. "I was thinking about stuff the whole way." Lance tried to laugh it off, but Keith wasn't finding it humorous.

"You better pay attention next time we come, you need to be able to get here by yourself. What were you thinking about?" Keith asked, starting to fill up his container as well.

"N-Nothing! Haha," Lance quickly put his container of water away and stood up, moving away from Keith. "What kind of plants are we looking for? Where should I look for food? You caught a bunny, are there more?" Lance was desperately trying to change topics. He started looking at a tree scratching at the bark, seeing the bugs crawling on it. Keith stood up and walked over to him, standing roughly a centimeter apart from him.

Keith whispered into Lance's ear. "It doesn't sound like it was nothing~" Lance's entire face was red. He was pressing himself against the tree. He spotted some berries in a bush.

"Hey look! Some berries, those look like the ones we had before." Lance quickly walked to them and started picking them off the bush. Keith was disappointed Lance walked away. Maybe next time.

"Walk in that direction as you search, you will eventually run into our base," Keith said, pointing in the direction they came. Keith headed the other way so they would search the most amount of ground. "You have a knife to kill animals right?" Lance nodded at him and started on his way.

* * *

 

Lance walked among the trees, as he swept through the brush he picked up what berries he could find. Surprisingly, there were quite a few. His container for food was filling faster than he was expecting it to. Lance stopped and was going to see if he could listen for animals. He wanted to be better than Keith, he wasn't to catch the biggest animal. So he listened. _tap tap_. Lance turned his head. _tap tap_. There was definitely something in the area. He lowered himself to the ground. _tap tap tap tap_. Lance pulled his knife and slowly along the ground, hunting hiss prey. Maybe it was another bunny. _tap tap tap_. The small pats were getting louder, he was close. Soon he would be on top of it. Lance moved some grass out of his face and saw a very plump bunny sitting there eating grass. He had to strike, if he waited it could run. Lance went for it.

* * *

 

Keith headed off. Sadly he was heading away from the camp so his walk would be longer. He grabbed things here and there, his main goal was a bigger animal. If this area didn't have tons of bunnies then there had to be a predator. He waited to find a bunny, he was going to travel a bit and fill his bin before he started hunting. As he moved around he found some other colored berries, maybe they would taste better. Keith someone found some nuts, it was surprising to find them here. Acorns were hanging from a tree. There were many plants here that were very earth like... it was strange but helpful.

A glint. Something shiny. Keith saw it for a second, in the corner of his eye. Something shiny was reflecting light into his eye. He walked in the direction he thought it was. He was extremely curious. He located the object.

He stopped in his tracks. Dropping to his knees. Partway buried in the ground was Shiro's helmet. If this wasn't proof he was dead...

Keith was about to cry, but he realized... How was he supposed to tell Lance? He wanted Lance to be happy, he couldn't tell him. No, he had to keep this to himself.

Keith didn't move, he didn't want to leave the helmet. He didn't want to leave the only thing he had left of Shiro. He just stared at it. Keith didn't know how much time went by before he heard a loud shout.

* * *

 

Lance was so happy he caught a bunny. He could brag to Keith back at the camp. Lance continued his search for food, he found some mushrooms. This was a first, he hadn't had them before so he planned to wait and ask Keith if they should eat them. He grabbed a handful or so and stored them. _I think I have enough stuff for today and I have been searching for quite some time, time to head back. Lance kept walking forward and, as Keith said, he reached the base easily. Not even difficult. Lance put everything away, except the bunny. Maybe I should leave that in the container so it doesn't attract predators if it has any._

_Keith has been gone for some time. Maybe he is having trouble finding enough stuff. I don't think it would be too hard, but maybe it is just the area he is in. I think I will wait a while before going to find him, I don't want it to seem like I need him here or anything haha._

The light out was growing dim and Lance was starting to worry that Keith wasn't back. Maybe I should go find him now. He has been out there for at least 5 hours, what could he be doing? Let's just walk the way we did before. I'll have to call for him but at least I can get him back here before dark. "Keith!"

"Keith! Where are you?!"

"It's getting pretty late out!"

"Keith!"

"Keith!"

"Mullet guy!"

"Homie where you at? Keith!"

Lance saw him for a glance, far away, just between trees.

"Keith! There you are, what have you been doing!" Keith jerked his head up.

"Huh?" He bolted over to Lance, making sure to take his attention away from where he was sitting. "Oh sorry, I was trying to remember what way we came from. Don't worry. Let's go home."

Lance started walking, this time he got to lead Keith. "Alright, if you say so." They reached the camp in no time, Keith putting away what little he had. "Guess what I got Keith?"

"What did you get?"

"A bunny! I found my own and killed it." Lance, open his bin and showed him. "I also found these mushrooms, I was waiting to ask you if we should eat them." Lance pulled them from their food storage.

"Congrats on the bunny Lance, and for those mushrooms, let's try those out tomorrow." Keith put everything away. "For now let's just go to bed." Lance and Keith crawled into bed together, the sky was already dark and almost nothing was visible.

Lance was asleep, but Keith was wide-eyed. He wasn't going to sleep all night. The only thing he could focus on was what happened to Shiro.


	9. Shrooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what will eating mysterious mushrooms do?

Keith could say he "woke up" but really he didn't. He was awake all night and now he is super sleepy. His body won't allow him to sleep yet. His mind is too focused on Shiro's helmet. Where was the rest of his suit? His Lion? Him?

Lance was starting to shift around, Keith didn't want to deal with Lance telling him he needed sleep. Tomorrow was going to be hell, Lance was sure he would know he wasn't getting sleep. Keith closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. He wouldn't fall asleep but he was going to try and relax his body.

It had only been an hour and there was already more light outside, Lance could tell it was brighter.

Another hour passed and Lance was getting up. His breath was quickening and he was moving about. When he did get up he crawled out of their base to stretch. Lance shook Keith's foot gently. "Are you awake? Usually, you are up before me."

"Yeah, I'm up, what do you need." Keith also got up, it's not like he was going to get any sleep anyway.

"Well you said we could try those mushrooms today, I'm curious to see what they taste like. We don't have anything else planned for today. You haven't planned for us to try and fix one of the Lions so i was thinking we could do that instead." Lance, sat down after grabbing the mushrooms. Today was going to be fun, trying new things and just having a day to talk with Keith. Lance recently has only been thinking about Keith and has a lot of questions for him. Today was hopefully the day he could ask them all. _What if these mushrooms are like truth serum or something? I could get Keith to tell me everything, awesome! Wait, they also could kill us. What if it does, we shouldn't risk that, but how would we know if it is?_

"If we are going to try these Lance, then I am trying it first. We aren't sure what these will do to us, so that means I'm going first." Keith grabbed a few pieces from Lance.

 _He looks tired, did he sleep? Now isn't the time to ask, he could die from these._ "No! I'm trying them first, you have more will to live, and you are more talented. If these kill us, then you are the one who should live." Lance snatched them back from Keith.

Keith grabbed them again, forcefully. "This is an argument, I'm the one trying them!" Before Lance could object, Keith threw them into his mouth and started eating them. He swallowed. "They taste pretty good. I like them. You should have some t-" Keith tipped over and crashed into the dirt. Lance rushed over to him.

"Keith!" Lance shook him, trying to get him to wake up. "Keith! Are you okay? What's going on?" Lance checked for breathing. He was breathing. Thank god. He checked for a heart beat. He found it. Keith is alive, for now.

Keith murmured, "Shiro... why are you here?"

_Hmm? Shiro? Who is Keith talking to? Is he seeing things?_

* * *

 

Keith chewed and swallowed the mushrooms, they didn't seem too bad. Nothing was hurting, no fast death. Seemed okay. "They taste pretty good. I like them," Keith looked around as he talked then back at Lance. "You should have some t-" Lance disappeared. Everything was fine except he was gone. Then the ground disappeared, Keith was falling. It seemed endless at first. There wasn't anything in view that it looked like he would land on.

Until he hit a floor. Everything was black and empty. His shoulder hurt from hitting it so hard, he staggered on his feet as he stood. He looked around himself, someone was coming towards him from a portal of light. It was too bright to look directly at. It closed behind the person.

Shiro.

"Shiro? Why are you here?"

Shiro walked up to him, looking down at him. "I am here because you want me here. You need me here."

"What does that mean, why do I need you? What is this? Did I black out? Was it the mushrooms, are you real."

"I could be real, not much can be answered in this world. I need to tell you something very important."

Keith didn't anything, he needed to hear this.

"You can only reach me from here. I have many things to teach you, it will help you on your journey back to us. Look out for signs, you will know them when you see them."

"Signs? Back to you? You're dead, how do I do that? How will I know?"

"Haha, you have already seen two signs. I'm not as dead as you think. You will learn to find your way. Time to wake up, see you soon."

Keith sat up quickly, he felt better from a little sleep. He brought his hand to his eyes and pulled it away. His hands were wet. Tears.

Lance. He couldn't let Lance see him like this. He looked around. Before his encounter, Lance had disappeared. Where was he in this reality. He looked around, spotting Lance on the ground nearby. Keith scrambled to him, checking for breathing and heartbeat. Both were present, but Lance was out cold. _What did you do Lance?_

The bag of mushrooms was spilled out on the ground next to his hand. Did he eat some too? Oh no.

"Pidge? You're here, I'm so glad to see you. Hunk you're here too!" Lance said excitedly. He still wasn't awake. He definitely ate some of them, he was seeing Pidge and Hunk just like Keith had seen Shiro.

* * *

 

Keith was murmuring to no one as if it was a conversation but no one was replying. It had been a half hour and Keith hadn't woke up. Lance was very worried.

If Keith was seeing Shiro maybe I could see someone I care about too. I'm having some too, I don't care if Keith is mad when we wake up-- if we wake up.

Lance ate some, they did taste good, just like Keith said. Mmm. He waited, nothing was happening. No weird feeling no-

Lance face-planted the ground and the mushrooms spilled.

He started falling into the black abyss below him. Hitting an invisible floor that was the same color as everything else. Just endless blackness. Hunk and Pidge appeared in front of him.

"Pidge? You're here, I'm so glad to see you. Hunk you're here too!"

"Yes we are here, but you need to listen to me," Pidge said. "Fixing a Lion isn't a big priority, you can talk with us here but you need to find a way back to us."

"What? You're dead, I buried you. I saw your dead body, I can't get back to you. Why wouldn't we fix the Lions?" Lance was angry, this Pidge was telling him everything that doesn't make sense to do.

"Lance, listen to me," Hunk added. "You will see signs, you have seen at least two. Put the pieces together."

"What pieces. What am I looking for? Neither of you are making any sense. We need to fix the Lion and get home. You are just my imagination, this is some sort of shock. My brain is protecting me from your death." Lance was making up excuses at this point. He didn't even believe himself.

"Figure it out. You and Keith are the only two left who need to find us. We are all waiting." Pidge said, they disappeared and Lance woke up.

* * *

Keith had moved Lance's head onto his lap, he was waiting until he woke up. They had a lot to talk about. _What had Lance experienced, what did he learn?_

Lance woke with a start. "What?" _Lance looks angry, what's with him?_

"Are you okay? Lance, talk to me, what happened? Who did you see, what did they say?" Keith was probably asking too many questions, but he didn't care.

"I saw Pidge and Hunk, they told me to find them. It doesn't make sense, and apparently, there are clues which I have already seen. What clues? They are dead, I'm not believing anything they say. We need to fix the Lions." Lance furrowed his eyebrows, crossing his arms.

"Well actually, while you were passed out, I had time to think and I think I know somewhat what they mean." Lance just looked at Keith like he was crazy.

_Keith doesn't actually believe what his brain was tricking him into, does he?_

"Think about this. We have no memory, of anything before we crashed. Not how we got to this planet, what system we are in, any missions, nothing. When I was hunting for food for the first time and you as well, we caught bunnies. What are the chances of this planet having the same animal as ours? Is it just that I wanted to find a bunny so one showed up? Those are two things that are strange. Now I'm not saying that it means anything, but we have to consider it. Also, why were the people we were imagining telling us that stuff? Maybe they were real."

Lance couldn't respond. What did this mean for them?

"Do you wanna try them again tomorrow? We are going to need more answers." Lance asks suddenly.

"Yeah, that sounds really great."

"You know what we should do now?"

"What is that Lance?"

"We should test your animal theory. See if whatever we think of shows up."

"I like the sound of that. Maybe I can find a dog or a nice bird. Oh! Maybe a chicken, they could give us eggs. Wouldn't that be nice."

"I like the sound of scrambled eggs." Lance, licked his lips. He got up to grab some hunting gear, he tripped on his feet and hit the ground.

"Hahahaha, you look so ridiculous." Keith was laughing at his clumsiness. Lance started laughing too. Why was it so funny. Lance and Keith just couldn't stop laughing.

 _Are we drunk? Haha, no way!_ Both Lance and Keith thought to themselves.

For the rest of the day, neither of them could accomplish anything. All they did was tell dumb jokes and say dumb things. Laughing at it all.


End file.
